


Orpheus

by Justanothershortstory_sofar



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/M, Keyleth goes to get a soul, a particular one, after vax has died so kinda death but not really?, it's like the myth of orpheus that's why it's named that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2020-01-11 09:49:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18428084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Justanothershortstory_sofar/pseuds/Justanothershortstory_sofar
Summary: Or, the Rise of a Goddess.





	Orpheus

It takes seven days to walk from the mortal plane to the Underworld.  To barter back a soul from its depths, from death itself, takes a rare strength not found in mankind often.  Keyleth of the Air Ashari begins the journey, her heart serving as her compass. 

 

Day one is spent digging, breaking rock, or otherwise moving earth.   She sweats as she tears into the ground with a fury. She is so angry, so furious.  It feels good to direct her hurt at something. As the sun vanishes at the end of the tunnel she’s made, she rests against the cool dirt, the soft smell enveloping her.  She pulls her mantle close to her, unafraid of anything that could happen in the night. 

 

Day two is spent sneaking past monsters of the Underdark, dodging Fire Giants and Dureguar and Drow.   It isn’t a challenge for her, not anymore. She thinks. They say when grief is strong enough, the Raven Queen takes pity.  Or, she is willing to make a deal, of sorts. Keyleth hopes for the legitimacy of this, of her own heroism, her own leadership.  Maybe if she proves herself again, it would be worth something. The life of her love, maybe. Maybe. 

 

Day three is spent navigating the mess of tunnels leading from the Underdark to what lies below.  There are so many shadows here, in every corner she lights with her fire. She keeps thinking he’ll slip out of one, sneak behind her, wrap his hands around her waist, kiss the back of her neck.  He won’t. But she runs a comb through her hair nonetheless, she checks her reflections in puddles and pools of underground water. He won’t, but she can’t stop hoping he will. 

 

Day four is spent looking for the crack smelling strongest of sulfur.  She presses her face against the warm stone, inhaling the vapors coming from each crack.  She finds the one she thinks is strongest, turns herself into a beetle, flies towards the unknown depths of the Underworld.  Keyleth remembers she hasn’t seen a raven in ages. She hates them and loves them all the same. 

 

Day five is spent bartering with devils.  As she shows just how powerful she is, as she spends coin and deals, she thinks of his sister, or of their friends.  They could have done this better, Vex wouldn’t have spent this much money, Percy would have scared the shit out of them more.  Keyleth had thought about taking them with her. She had decided against it. There are some things that just have to be done alone.  

 

Day six is spent by crossing a vast underground sea.  Keyleth uses a boat obtained from one of the devils. She maintains the direction, adjusts the sail lightly, calls a strong wind to speed the boat across the white-foamed waves.  She thinks of time, of how long it took her to get here, of the years she spent learning and studying and growing. Would Vax recognize her, she wondered, when she arrived? She’d changed (not a lot) since he last saw her.  Or maybe he was watching her, the entire time. Does he approve? 

 

Day seven is spent at the gate of the Raven Queen, looming before her large and impossibly bright white.  Keyleth storms in. The goddess stops her before she moves too far past the gate. 

The Raven Queen does not speak right away, only looks at Keyleth with curiosity or anger or gentleness, she can’t tell.  

“You’ve changed,”  The Raven Queen speaks at last.  

“You haven’t.”  Says Keyleth. 

“Curious…”  The Raven Queen circles her, eyeing her like a cat with a mouse.  “You’re just on the cusp of it, aren’t you? Godhood, that is. Are you here to challenge me?”

“I am.”  Keyleth maintains her composure.  “But first, I have a deal to make.  I want Vax back, not to be Goddess of the dead.”  

“You’ll withdraw your challenge if I give him back to you?”  

“I will.  One soul in exchange for you remaining Queen of the Dead doesn’t seem like too steep a price to pay.”  Keyleth crosses her arms. 

“Then I challenge you in return, Keyleth of the Ashari.  Walk to the mortal plane again. My champion will follow you.  If you return without looking back once, he’s yours.” The Raven Queen turned Keyleth back to the gates, leaning by her head and whispering in her ear.  “I want you to trust, Keyleth of Vox Machina. Can you?” 

Steeled by the belief of her friends and her people in her, she takes a deep breath.  “Try me.” 

“Then go.  He follows.  Do not turn your head.”  

 

She does not stop for rest this time.  She passes the gate, the sea, the devils, and the days begin to blend together.  Every once in a while, she calls to Vax. A desperate ask for him to speak to her, or to touch her hand or to breathe loud enough for her to hear.  

She does not look back.  

Keyleth turns into things more monstrous than what lies in the deeps of the Underdark.  She flies or floats or runs on the limbs of dragons and direwolves. She hopes Vax can still follow her.  

She does not look back. 

Keyleth climbs.  She tries to trust.  

The Raven Queen lies, she thinks.  

She lies she lies she lies SHE LIES.  

What if she lied what if she lied what if WHAT IF.  

 

I do not lie, Keyleth tells herself.  I hold power, just as she does. And I will not hesitate to attack, to overturn her. 

“I know you can’t tell me you’re there.”  Keyleth grips the almost sheer cliff face she dug just two weeks prior, her hands wet. “But Vax, I trust you are.  I might not trust her, but I trust you. And more than that, I trust me.” 

The rock bites into her hands.  Keyleth of the Ashari climbs. Keyleth of Vox Machina trusts.  

 

At last, the light begins to filter through.  It fills the tunnel as she ascends, growing ever brighter, warming her face.  

Her hands grip the edge.  

Her foot slips. 

She almost falls, inches away.

She.  Does. Not.  Turn. Her. Face.  

She rises.  And waits for a moment, feeling the mortal world against her skin, before she turns around.  

 

“Keyleth.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey Kiki ascends to godhood AS SHE FUCKING SHOULD.   
> Let me know if you liked this ;)
> 
> XOXO,   
> Just (@zoetriestobecoolbutnope on the Tumblr)


End file.
